Downtown Montauk’s ocean beach and bay beaches in the Town of East Hampton “took a beating” in the northeaster that hit the South Fork on Friday and Saturday, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said at the town board’s work session on Tuesday, though the town was spared the greater damage and higher winds experienced to the north. 

The storm exposed much of the 3,100-foot revetment formed by sand-filled geotextile tubes at the ocean beach in downtown Montauk, constructed as a short-term measure to protect shoreline businesses from flooding while the town awaits the Army Corps of Engineers’ long-term coastal plan, the Fire Island to Montauk Point reformulation study, or FIMP. 

“We did lose a great deal of sand,” the supervisor said. “Where it’s most noticeable, I would say, is along the downtown stretch in Montauk. Most of the bags there are exposed.” But, he said, “I think it’s safe to say we’d be looking at hotel foundations and exposed cesspools and swimming pools tilting over the edge” had the revetment not been constructed. “That was an emergency interim project while we wait for FIMP to come with a sand-only major replenishment.”

The town and Suffolk County are responsible for replenishing sand to cover the revetment and must do so by May 15, Mr. Van Scoyoc said on Tuesday. Yesterday, he said that the cost of the replenishment was yet to be determined, pending a post-storm assessment. Pre-storm measurements had pointed to a cost in the range of $300,000, he said, “but clearly things have changed.” 

“That is an added expense to the town,” the supervisor said on Tuesday. The town board had budgeted $1.5 million for such projects, “but it also has sparked some conversation about erosion control districts within the town,” he said, “where we would have some of those costs, if not all, offset by specific districts. Those who benefit most from those projects and that sand would be asked to contribute a commensurate amount. That’s something that’s going to be ongoing in terms of discussion that I think we should be focusing on while we wait for the Fire Island-to-Montauk reformulation to be completed and receive that federal project.”

The sand replenishment will happen as close to the summer season as is practicable, Mr. Van Scoyoc said. “We want to be outside of the storm season, and we don’t want to put sand up there that’s going to be immediately at risk” of being washed away, he said. Wave action will tend to push sand back on to the beach, promoting a natural recovery, he added. 

Bay beaches at Barnes Landing and along Cranberry Hole Road in Amagansett also suffered erosion, Mr. Van Scoyoc said at the work session, and Gerard Drive, in Springs, was breached. 

Falling trees killed eight people throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions during the storm, and 2.7 million people lost electricity. Another northeaster was projected to arrive yesterday, and yet another storm is forecast for Monday. 

“We’ll be moving forward to make sure that everything’s in place, that that beach gets restored to its normal conditions prior to the beginning of the season,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said of downtown Montauk’s ocean beach. But, he added, “It’s going to be an ongoing issue that we as a coastal community will have to deal with.”

With 118 residential wells south of the East Hampton Airport in Wainscott now found to be contaminated by perfluorinated compounds, the East Hampton Town Board is considering how best to safeguard drinking water. 

While the board seems inclined to pursue an inter-municipal water infrastructure grant, with the Suffolk County Water Authority as the lead agency in the partnership, to connect residential properties in the area of concern to public water, the timeline for that process will be long. In the meantime, Councilman Jeffrey Bragman, the board’s liaison to the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee, said at a work session on Tuesday that the town should make point-of-entry treatment systems available to homeowners with contaminated wells as soon as possible. 

Suffolk County Health Department officials began a survey of water from private wells in the area of the East Hampton Airport in August. In October, the Health Department announced discovery of levels of two perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, in excess of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable levels for lifetime exposure. Since then, the test area has expanded to an area containing nearly 400 wells, of which around 244 have been tested, Mr. Bragman said. 

Perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, have been detected at varying levels in the wells. Though PFCs are currently unregulated, the E.P.A. has identified both PFOS and PFOA as contaminants of emerging concern. The agency issued the lifetime health advisory level of 0.07 parts per billion to protect the most sensitive populations, including fetuses during pregnancy and breastfed babies, against potential adverse health effects.

According to the E.P.A., studies on animals indicate that exposure to the two compounds over certain levels may also negatively affect the thyroid, liver, and immune systems, and cause cancer, among other effects. 

Upon discovery of the PFCs, the town offered free bottled drinking water to all those in the test area who are not connected to public water supplies. On Tuesday, they pondered long-term solutions. 

Nicole Ficeto, the town’s grants coordinator, briefed the board on the State Environmental Facilities Corporation’s Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure Grants Program, detailing how the town and the water authority could partner to apply for a grant for drinking-water infrastructure improvement, in this case to extend water mains to residential properties serviced at present  by private wells. 

The town would have to form a water district, she told the board. The project would require a review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and a resolution authorizing the application. An executed engineering agreement for design services, proof of any required easements, and a debt approval letter from the state comptroller would encourage an application’s approval, she said, as would a detailed project schedule, itemized plans, specifications, and other relevant documents. 

“We will do our homework” and work with the county, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said, and execute an inter-municipal agreement with the water authority. “I think it’s really important to move forward and try to have the ability to receive these grants.” However, he said, the board does not have the luxury of time, given the urgency of protecting public health. 

“We are certainly going to look for every potential source of grant money that we can to lower the costs,” the supervisor said after the meeting. “It makes sense to start the process of developing the plans, which we’ve already done with the Suffolk County Water Authority in terms of locating, having the physical maps drawn up. We need to create a water supply district. Engineering needs to take place.” Regardless of the grant timeline, “we’re still going to be moving,” he said. “I certainly don’t want to sit around and wait to get the grant. That’s valuable time we’re going to use to work to alleviate this concern.”

Mr. Bragman underscored that concern, explaining that the chemicals in question are endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors, found in a range of man-made and natural substances, interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects. “They’ve determined that very minute quantities can cause harm,” he said. At one time, New Jersey had set an acceptable limit of exposure at 40 parts per trillion, he said, but it has since lowered that threshold to 13 parts per trillion. 

“I strongly believe we can’t just wait for public water,” he said. “There is effective filtration available.” Point-of-entry treatment systems cost about $3,000, he said, but a public bid would likely lower that cost. The systems require an additional annual cost of $1,000 to replace filters. 

“If we took the initiative and installed water filtration, we’re looking at about $350,000,” Mr. Bragman said, comparing the potential expenditure to the approximately $330,000 allocated to combat the southern pine beetle infestation in Northwest Woods in East Hampton. “This problem is more serious than the southern pine beetle,” he said. “This affects human health. I think it requires us to think about the role of government. . . . We have a responsibility to act decisively and protect human health. . . . We all care, everybody cares about this. But we can’t care slowly. I would favor getting bids to get these systems, and favor making them available to all contaminated wells we have.” 

“Point-of-entry treatment systems are very effective,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said, and are installed quickly relative to water mains. “We find, right to this very moment, everything we do on the land does have a direct impact on our groundwater. With that in mind, I do support the councilman’s suggestion that we take immediate action, making available point-of-entry well treatment.” A state of emergency would likely be declared, he said, in order to allocate public money to private property, allowing homeowners to install the point-of-entry treatment systems. “I don’t think we can wait for slower moving agencies and bureaucracies to address this problem,” he said. 

As Deepwater Wind begins a two-year process of applying for permits to construct and operate a 15-turbine wind farm approximately 36 miles off Montauk, the Town of East Hampton’s fisheries advisory committee has chosen Julie Evans, the captain of a charter boat based in Montauk, as its liaison to the Rhode Island company. 

Ms. Evans is to be the fishing industry’s primary person for communicating with Deepwater Wind. The company will fund her work, but she will not be directly employed by it and instead will work on behalf of the local fishing fleet. The company anticipates the position will involve approximately 5 to 10 hours a week. 

An unsuccessful candidate for town trustee last fall, Ms. Evans has been an outspoken advocate for fishing interests. She and her late husband ran the Daybreaker, fishing for striped bass, from the mid-1970s until the state prohibited striped bass fishing in 1986. She holds a Coast Guard license to carry passengers for hire and has a degree in journalism and environmental science from New York University. A member of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee, she headed a technical advisory committee for a state-mandated Lake Montauk watershed report. 

According to the advisory committee, Ms. Evans will work with Deepwater Wind to develop communication and mitigation plans for the proposed South Fork Wind Farm. The work is to include methods of communication between Deepwater Wind and the commercial fishing industry, the frequency and duration of that communication, and mitigation strategies for all stages of the wind farm’s construction and operation. “We look forward to the town board supporting the selection of Capt. Evans in this role,” a letter from the committee reads.

Deepwater Wind has struggled to find a fisheries representative, as sentiment among those in the town’s commercial fishing fleet has been that it would be disloyal for one of their own to work on behalf of a project they believe threatens their livelihood. 

“We appreciate that the Montauk fishing community has identified someone for this important role, and we’re confident that having a fishing rep on-board will deepen our outreach with the local fishing community,” Jennifer Garvey, Deepwater Wind’s Long Island development manager, said in a statement by email yesterday. “We look forward to working with Captain Evans.”

At the East Hampton Town Board’s work session on Tuesday, Robert Valenti, the fisheries committee’s vice chairman, introduced Ms. Evans and asked for a $30,000 stipend to employ an assistant to do research. “Who’s fishing what areas, how much they’ve been catching, how long they’ve been out there, and assorted information which is going to be necessary to put this mitigation and outreach plan into effect,” is how he described the research. “I don’t think we can expect Julie to do all of that alone.” 

“My job is to facilitate good communication between Deepwater Wind and our committee and protect fishing grounds for fishermen,” Ms. Evans told the town board. “Fishermen are under the gun in many different ways.” The proposed wind farm, she said, “is an added burden at this time. We’re behind at this point, so we do need the money so we can move forward quickly.”

The board was supportive of Ms. Evans’s selection. “I’m very pleased we now have a liaison, and a very appropriate one,” Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said, describing a town fisheries representative as having been missing as Deepwater Wind had multiple meetings with the town trustees and its harbor management committee. With respect to the stipend, the board “agrees that’s something we could fund. We’re going to give you the support you need to be successful,” the supervisor said. 

The company had offered the town and the trustees a community benefits package last year; the trustees countered with a considerably larger request for financial assistance and other commitments last month. 

The fishery is a renewable resource, the supervisor said. “We also have renewable energy, which we are promoting. Sustainability is really important for our species at this time. Balancing those two to make sure they’re in alignment with our overall goals is really important.”

Responding to pleas from state and local officials, the New York State Department of Transportation has agreed to repave eight of the worst sections of Route 114 between Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton and Sag Harbor by the end of this summer. 

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle thanked the D.O.T. for what they see as an interim fix and vowed to continue pushing the department to add a complete resurfacing of the road to its five-year capital plan. Officials had pushed for new pavement from Stephen Hand’s Path all the way to the South Ferry terminal on North Haven. 

“If we waited for the whole project, under the best-case scenario it would have been next year,” Mr. Thiele said yesterday. “They’re promising by the end of summer, but hopefully most of it gets done before the Fourth of July.” 

The initial repairs will improve conditions on the heavily traveled road, but “there are more locations which should be added to this list, particularly in the Village of North Haven between Short Beach Road and the South Ferry,” Mr. Thiele said in a release.

North Haven Mayor Jeff Sander agreed, saying in a release that the road from “the Sag Harbor-North Haven bridge to the South Ferry terminal is in terrible condition.”

In the meantime, Mr. Thiele said, “This was the most expeditious approach to protecting public safety.” 

The D.O.T. will replace the top two inches of asphalt in some of the most pothole-marred sections of the road between Stephen Hand’s Path and Goodfriend Drive in East Hampton, near Harrison Street and by Long Wharf in Sag Harbor, and on the North Haven side of the Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter Memorial Bridge. 

“They didn’t go beyond the circle towards the ferry,” Mr. Thiele said.

East Hampton Town officials working on revisions to a law governing farm and deer-excluding fences, and in particular how close they can be to property lines and roadways, heard the concerns of residents at a hearing last Thursday.

As the number of deer has increased on the East End, tall fences have proliferated, leading, as several people who spoke at the Town Hall hearing said, to a prisonlike landscape.

“This barrage of fencing is creating a suburban atmosphere and diminishing our property values,” Jim MacMillan of Amagansett told the town board.

Mr. MacMillan, a real estate broker, said the town’s environmental amenities were desirable and that too many tall fences had the opposite effect and could depress prices. Moreover, he said, the fences force wildlife onto roads.

This view was echoed by Susan McGraw Keber, a town trustee and member of the East Hampton Group for Wildlife who lives in Northwest. She called for a deer survey to help understand their numbers.

“Fencing at 10 feet, at 8 feet, at 6 feet, is to ensure that our deer are going to be hurt on our roadways. There is no place for them to escape to,” Ms. McGraw Keber said.

Also speaking at last Thursday’s hearing was Patti Wadzinski, an East Hampton resident since 1974 and a Sotheby’s real estate broker, who said she wanted to see natural species protected. A town regulation requiring corridors between fenced areas was not being enforced, she said.

“I think that this town, who professes to want open space and the natural world that we live in, would want to actually protect the open space and natural world that we live in,” she said. Ten-foot fences, she said, were absurd. “To me it looks like a gulag, a prison now. Is that how we want our town to look?” 

David Buda, a Springs resident and frequent presence at town board meetings, said that current fence regulations and the proposed revisions create a walled-in, urban look. Fences and other wall-like structures over four feet high in front yards and close to roads in agricultural areas were dangerous eyesores and should be prohibited, he said.

Deer fences up to eight feet high in side yards that are on two or fewer  property lines and are set at least 20 feet back from roadways are allowed under current law without architectural review board approval. No more than half of a property can be enclosed, and fences can only be up to six feet high on a roadside.

Under revised law, exceptions could be sought from the architectural review board for taller fences for actual farming operations, NancyLynn Thiele, a town lawyer, said. Under the current code, requests have to go to the zoning board of appeals.

Among other potential code changes is a clarification that driveway gates and posts be set back from the road by at least 20 feet.

Following the hearing, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said that the board was not ready to approve the proposed changes, and that it would revisit the matter soon.

The sole East Hampton resident seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Representative Lee Zeldin in November, Perry Gershon, will be among a field of seven hopefuls at a forum in Amagansett on Friday.

The 7 p.m. gathering at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church on Montauk Highway will be at least the 12th time the candidates have made their pitches as a group. It is organized by the East Hampton Democratic Town Committee and will be moderated by Arthur Schiff and Phyllis Italiano.

Two of the candidates’ names are familiar, at least to some First Congressional District voters, Kate Browning and Vivian Viloria-Fisher are former Suffolk legislators from points west. The latest to enter the race for the nomination is Bruce Miller, a Port Jefferson Village trustee and former school board member.

David Pechefsky has held a variety of posts in New York City government, including as assistant director of housing and economic development, and he ran for City Council in 2009 as a Green Party candidate.

The others, including Mr. Gershon, have no direct political experience. Brendon Henry is a bartender from Center Moriches. Elaine DiMasi worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory for more than 20 years. 

At this point, even more candidates could enter the race. The deadline for filing petitions is April 12. The primary itself is on June 26. So far, there has been no indication that anyone will challenge Mr. Zeldin for the Republican nomination.

Mr. Gershon got to know East Hampton through his then-girlfriend, Lisa Post, whom he married at East Hampton Point in 1995. His wife’s family had had a house here since the 1970s.

The Gershons first bought on Mile Hill Road in East Hampton’s Northwest Woods in 1999, building a house that Mr. Gershon said was a refuge for him from the rest of the world. He changed his voting registration from Manhattan to East Hampton last year.

Scuba and running marathons are among Mr. Gershon’s interests, as are the New York Mets. He ran a sports bar in Manhattan in the 1980s. When the Mets were in the 2015 World Series, he attended the Saturday night loss to the Kansas City Royals then, crestfallen, ran the New York Marathon the following morning, completing the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours and 54 minutes.

Mr. Gershon graduated from Yale University, a member of the class of 1984, and received a business degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He had attended medical school for two years (his parents were doctors) before changing course and deciding to go into business. He is taking time out from his commercial lending company to run for Congress, he said.

Amid a crowded field, the candidates have had to work hard to distinguish themselves. Ms. Viloria-Fisher and Mr. Gershon attended a Feb. 17 vigil in East Hampton Village for victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shootings. Mr. Pechefsky recently opened his campaign headquarters in a building next door to Mr. Zeldin’s Patchogue office.

In an interview, Mr. Gershon said that he believed that he had the best chance among the Democratic hopefuls of beating Mr. Zeldin in the general election, citing his message and fund-raising. “Zeldin has something like $2 million now, and he is going to get a whole lot more,” he said.

Mr. Gershon’s campaign had more than $812,000 on hand as of this week, according to campaign disclosures; Mr. Zeldin had about $1.2 million in the bank. 

The Gershon campaign was well ahead of its nearest Democratic competitor, Mr. Pechefsky, who reported about $175,000 in his war chest. Mr. Pechefsky put $100,000 into his campaign last year. Mr. Gershon has so far contributed $400,000 of his own money.

Much has been made of the fact that Mr. Zeldin is the only Jewish Republican in Congress. Mr. Gershon said that the fact that he too is Jewish could neutralize that as a campaign plus for Mr. Zeldin.

One takeaway Mr. Gershon said that he hoped the audience at Friday’s forum would have would be that he has the ability to win the general election. 

“My campaign has tried to highlight Mr. Zeldin’s vulnerability,” he said, citing the Republican’s embrace of Steve Bannon, opposition to the Russia probe, and Mr. Zeldin’s sponsorship of a bill that would allow holders of concealed pistol permits from other states to carry their guns in New York.

He said that Mr. Zeldin had sought to obscure the issues of gun control following the Feb. 14 school shootings by putting a focus on mental health and not limiting assault weapons. “And he has attacked law enforcement,” Mr. Gershon said.

Mr. Gershon said he did not see any signs that Mr. Zeldin had made a tack to the center, as many politicians do as elections approach. “He has gone further right,” he said. “He has gone the other way and attached himself to Donald Trump. I don’t think this will play well. Trump’s numbers are going to continue to decline,” he said.

Turnout will be key in November, he said. To win, he said, Democrats will have to rally their base in north Brookhaven and on the South Fork, as well as capture independents and moderate Republicans across the district who have had their fill of President Trump.

He said that enthusiasm seems to favor Democrats at this point. Of the more than 10 candidate forums that he has taken part in, all of the rooms have been full and he said the crowds are building. “There is a fierce dislike of Zeldin,” Mr. Gershon said.

For Mr. Gershon, the key to winning is to get the message across on jobs, health care, and the environment. On the East End, the effects of global warming are particularly noticeable, he said. “Zeldin is far off base on this,” he said.

Improving the safety of pedestrians on Bridgehampton’s Main Street, an ongoing concern, is closer to reality this spring, according to Southampton Town’s director of public transportation and traffic safety, Tom Neely, who described a series of changes using a $700,000 state grant at a meeting of the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday. 

There has been a history of pedestrians hit by cars on Main Street. In October of 2015 Anna Pump, a partner in the Loaves and Fishes food shops and the Bridgehampton Inn, died after being hit by a pickup truck in front of the hamlet’s post office. As recently as December a woman was injured after being struck in the crosswalk in front of the Bridgehampton Inn. 

  Mr. Neely, who displayed a map pinpointing some of the corridor’s most treacherous crossings, laid out the elements of the town’s plan, saying the project should be completed by the end of June. The work will include adding and reconfiguring crosswalks, improving signs and street markings, extending existing sidewalks, and upgrading street lighting. 

Mr. Neely said the street lighting would be improved along the 1.3 miles of road from Bridgehampton Commons to Lockwood Avenue, with 19 new lights attached to existing utility poles via 12-foot arms. Eighteen existing lights will also be upgraded to meet federal standards for highway lighting, he said.

The sidewalk on the south side of Main Street is to be extended, with the goal of creating an uninterrupted passage from Ocean Road to the building that houses Citarella. “We’re looking to fill in the sidewalk gaps so that people won’t have to walk in the road,” Mr. Neely said. 

The most intensive work will be new and improved crosswalks, an effort that requires the town to work with the state’s Department of Transportation since Main Street is a state highway. “The state has final approval on everything involving the road,” Mr. Neely said, noting that as a result some of the decisions concerning the crosswalks are in flux. For instance, the state apparently is still whether to install a traffic signal on Main Street in front of the Candy Kitchen. Proposed new crosswalks at the School Street intersection and at the war monument just west of the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike are also being reviewed by the state. 

Highly visible pedestrian crossing signs are planned at the crosswalks in front of the post office, Thayer’s Hardware and Patio store, and the Bridgehampton Library. “They will be diamond-shaped yellow signs with yellow LED lights framing them,” Mr. Neely said, explaining that the town is working with engineers from the firm of L.K. McLean Associates of Brookhaven. Overhead motion detectors are to activate the lights whenever a pedestrian enters one of the crosswalks. Plus, a curb extension known as a bump-out would be added to prevent cars from parking in these spaces. “Bump-outs also shorten the distance that pedestrians have to walk in unprotected territory across the street,” Mr. Neely said.

The East Hampton Town Trustees received a 10-year dredging permit for Georgica Pond from the United States Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday. The permit will allow 15,000 cubic yards of sand to be removed from the pond each year. “That will keep it deeper, cooler, and less susceptible to harmful algal blooms,” said Sara Davison, the executive director of the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, a group of residents that is working to improve the pond’s health. 

The dredged sand will then be used to replenish beaches. 

The town’s previous 10-year permit expired in 2015, which forced the town trustees to reapply annually for dredging permits, resulting in bureaucratic delays that often prevented proper maintenance of the pond. That “could have spelled disaster for the future of Georgica Pond,” said Senator Charles Schumer in a statement announcing the approval of the permit. 

Senator Schumer worked with the town trustees to get the Army Corps to issue the permit in time for dredging to take place before April 1, which is when the federally protected piping plovers begin to nest on the beach there. 

The pond is typically opened to the ocean in the spring and the fall, but last year, the spring opening did not take place because of weather conditions and an early arrival of the protected shorebirds.

East Hampton has a reputation for being progressive and inclusive, but that does not mean it is immune to human-rights and civil-rights problems. And so it was that 25 years ago this coming July, the East Hampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force held its first meeting in the basement of Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton. Soon, the group was making is presence felt all around town, moving its meeting to the Methodist Church and the East Hampton Day Care Center, too.

The committee was formed to address discrimination based on race, religion, age, disability, gender, and sexual orientation, or marital, familial, or socioeconomic status. Its aim is to promote diversity, unity, and understanding among the various ethic, economic, and religious groups that make up our community. 

Members of the task force say they are determined to tackle bias by practicing what they preach: that is, through mutual understanding, not confrontation.

Two Anti-Bias Task Force board members, Audrey Gaines of East Hampton, who is the committee chairwoman, and Edna Steck of Montauk, believe that everyone is best served through the development of meaningful relationships, rather than heated debate and crisis management. 

They embody the quiet and consistent advocacy they promote, and have spent the greater part of their lives working independently and together to tackle bias on the East End.

“We’ve known each other for about 50 years,” Ms. Gaines said.

“Not quite yet,” Ms. Steck corrected. “But definitely over 45 years.” 

As founding members of the East Hampton Anti-Bias Task Force, they helped the group build and maintain close ties with schools, police, government, houses of worship, and cultural organizations, citizens advisory groups, and not-for-profits.

Meetings are now held at Town Hall on Pantigo Road on the second Wednesday of every month, when the board convenes to discuss initiatives, events, and activities underway or under consideration. Members are appointed by the East Hampton Town Board, and meetings are attended by Sylvia Overby, deputy supervisor of East Hampton, who is the liaison between the town and the task force.

“The advantage of being based in Town Hall is that we keep acquainted with appointed and elected officials,” said Ms. Gaines. “People know us, and we know them. We have their ear if something comes up. They take note, especially when Edna speaks.”

If there is a disadvantage to meeting ­Continued from A1

in Town Hall, it relates to the perception of some residents, particularly immigrants, that showing up at a government building could involve personal risk. “This is not about East Hampton,” Ms. Gaines said. “It is a reaction to what is going on at the national level. People listen to the news.”

Ms. Steck agreed that the recent rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric across the country has changed the nature of the work they do. A new focus of the task force’s efforts has been to revert to former methods. “Because people are more wary than before about stepping forward or contacting us with concerns,” she said, “we have responded by being more proactive in getting the word out, in being visible.”

“We used to meet in random locations. Church basements, libraries. And now we’ve been getting back to that,” Ms. Gaines said. “We’ve been going into the communities directly. We take our talking points, our script. We want them to know who we are and what we do.”

While general meetings are public, the task force meets privately to review and respond to reports of specific bias-related incidents from individuals. “Complaints are handled in special sessions,” Ms. Gaines said. “We listen, consider the facts, then make referrals to organizations best suited to help.”

“That’s important for people to understand,” Ms. Steck said. “The Town Hall meetings are open to the public, and everyone is welcome, but the complaint process is confidential. We do not ask about residency status. We do not judge. Our job is to make sure that people who feel they have been discriminated against are heard and that they are provided with the right information and directed to the right resources.”

As far as the future of the East Hampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force is concerned, the two longtime board members have exactly the same hopes and dreams they had when they joined the group a quarter-century ago.

“No one should be treated poorly,” Ms. Steck said. “Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity, regardless of their status, preferences, or circumstances. We want to continue to help people in our area appreciate the importance of this right.”

The East Hampton Village Board heard Friday from Jamie Banks, the executive director of Quiet Communities, a nonprofit that focuses on helping municipalities, homeowners, and landscape businesses transition to quieter electric machines that produce low or no emissions.

Dr. Banks spoke about the ecological and physiological dangers of using gas-powered leaf blowers and other landscape equipment, citing research that showed that consistent gas spillage from refilling the machines had a negative impact on the environment, and that the noise they generate not only caused hearing problems, but may also lead to heart disease, endocrine disorders, and other illnesses. 

“That’s because loud noise causes a stress response in our bodies,” Dr. Banks said. Quiet Communities recently worked with the Town of Southampton to turn the East Quogue Village Green into a park that predominantly uses electric equipment for maintenance. Although her organization is in favor of having towns regulate the use of leaf blowers, Dr. Banks suggested instituting equipment exchanges and other incentives to encourage people to make the switch on their own.

After Dr. Banks’s presentation, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. signaled that the board was readying legislation to address the issue. “I think the intent is there that we want to move ahead vis-a-vis the environment and the ecology of our wonderful village,” he said.